Get a recap of our journey so far...
Welcome to our 4th Simply Cups Annual Report
What a year 2021 has been! We celebrated the 4th year of Simply Cups by collecting more than 6 million cups and increasing collection points, including 122 schools as part of the 7-Eleven #CupRescue program - all during a year when COVID has done it's best to keep us away from work and school!
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To date we have rescued over 22 million cups from landfill. That's over 216 tonnes of material and brings us one step closer to our target of diverting 100 million cups per annum from landfill.
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Our number one goal is to ensure that we develop a program capable of collecting, processing and transforming every used cup collected through the Simply Cups program into a new and Australian-made product. The commitment of our Pioneering Partner, 7-Eleven, to participate in this voluntary product stewardship has been inspiring and critical for delivering success. The expertise of our logistics partner, Shred-X, has been instrumental in helping us develop an efficient and effective collection model. And the extensive R&D with our multiple upcycling partners, including State Asphalts, Upcycled Building materials (saveBOARD) and Gully Concrete has helped identify and deliver innovative ways to transform the used cups from Simply Cups collections into new products.
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These key partnerships, along with the early adoption support from Muffin Break and more recently, The Coffee Club, has allowed the dedicated team at Closed Loop to continue delivering solutions - solutions that we will seek to expand to other challenging packaging in 2022.
We love what you do ♡
Rob Pascoe
Managing Director of Closed Loop
21,627,198
CUPS DIVERTED FROM LANDFILL
(Between May 2017 and November 2021). This is a fantastic result with ongoing COVID lockdowns across the country.
SIMPLY CUPS
Running total of single use cups diverted from landfill
BASED ON 3.5 INCH CUP
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CUPS
RESCUED IN
2021
Office buildings, 7-Eleven and Shopping Centres were our top 3 cup collecting sites in 2021
THANK YOU 7-ELEVEN
We'd like to say a special thank you to our Pioneering Partner 7-Eleven who continue to help us expand.
In 2021, 7-Eleven rescued over 1.7 million cups from landfill, bringing their total to over 6.4 million cups overall. 7-Eleven added 19 additional Cup Rescue Points, bringing their total to 683 active stores Australia-wide.
#CUPRESCUE SCHOOL RECYCLING PROGRAM
7-Eleven is continuing to help schools rescue their cups through the #CUPRESCUE School Recycling program. Another 90 Schools joined the program in 2021 bringing the overall total to 122.
THANKS MUFFIN BREAK
We would like to thank our Founding Partner Muffin Break for helping promote Simply Cups. For every hot beverage sold, Muffin Break contribute funds to help us grow Simply Cups, and their team is always actively promoting the program. Since partnering with Muffin Break, we have had more than 30 Shopping Centres join Simply Cups.
rCUPS
Get yourself a Muffin Break rCUP (or any reusable cup) and be rewarded with 30 cents off your hot beverage.
SIMPLY CUPS is so lucky to work with so many partners that care enough to be program participants who collect cups and divert them from landfill.
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THANK YOU!
THANKS TO OUR CUP COLLECTORS
Shred-X has been Simply Cups National Logistics Partner since February 2019, and have done an outstanding job collecting cups at over 1,000 sites across Australia. Having started in the document destruction and paper recycling industry 20 years ago, environmental responsibility is still paramount to Shred-X whose facilities and operations incorporate the most environmentally sustainable shredding technologies. Shred-X collect, shred and bale cups until they are ready to be sent for further processing or upcycling.
UPCYCLING
CUPS
Recycling doesn’t actually happen when you discard an object into a recycling bin, recycling only happens when that object is given a second life.
Closed Loop continues to partner with more technologies that can transform coffee cups into items of higher value. Our vision is to see Australian companies buying products made from their waste.
LOW CARBON BUILDING MATERIALS
MADE FROM UPCYCLED PACKAGING
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In September 2021 we learned that our funding application for a saveBOARD facility was successful. The grant was awarded through a joint federal-state government program, Remanufacture NSW, as part of the federal government's Recycling Modernisation Fund.
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The saveBOARD facility will turn used packaging such as soft plastics, coffee cups, juice/long life milk boxes and other difficult-to-recycle packaging made from a mix of paper and plastic.
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The saveBOARD facility will be build in western Sydney and is expected to be operational by the end of 2022. Meanwhile Closed Loop is supporting the recently completed saveBOARD facility in NZ and will be importing some of the products made to Australia in early 2022 to test in the market place.
PAKPAVE
RECYCLED ROAD SURFACING
PAKPAVE is the world’s first road surface made with recycled packaging, including recycled cups. Lab testing for coffee cup inclusion in PAKPAVE is 100% complete with field testing trials already underway. This has been conducted in close consultation with NSW EPA and Transport for NSW and meets Nation performance requirements.
Preliminary conversations have been held with councils and state governments in NSW,VIC and WA with promising signs of pilot projects and further field trials in early 2022.
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Closed Loop and State Asphalts are exploring the inclusion of a broader range of difficult-to-recycle packaging in PAKPAVE.
COMING SOON
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Gully Concrete manufactures lightweight concrete slabs. for use as bases under hot water services, heating and cooling units and also pumps. These slabs are nearly half the weight of standard concrete products.
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Simply Cups have partnered with Gully Concrete Products to engineer new products that are made with Simply Cups. Stay tuned for further updates.
Plastic Forests is an award-winning Australian manufacturer of recycled plastic products, made from 100% soft plastics and a prominent upcycling partner of Simply Cups for years.
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Plastic Forests manufacture a wide range of quality, sustainable products such as fence posts, bollards, underground cable cover and wheel stops, as well as durable GreenMongrel garden products including stakes, garden beds and edging.
2021 also featured the 'Upcycling with Plastic Forests' Webinar showcasing products made with recycled cups.
RUNNING LOW ON TUBE SLEEVES?
ORDER MORE ONLINE
Standard Tube Sleeves are free for Simply Cups partners.
We’ll deliver replacement Tube Sleeves during your next collection free of charge. So please be sure to order before you run out. If you have already run out of Tube Sleeves and require an urgent delivery, a $20 express delivery fee applies.
INVESTING IN A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
OUR COMMITMENTS
Divert 100 million cups from landfill
Make it easier for people to recycle more cups.
Transform every used cup into an item of higher value
We will find a secondary use for any type of used paper cup.
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Pioneer a circular economy
Build markets for upcycled products, and educate Australians that recycling doesn’t happen when you place an item in a bin, recycling happens when you use a product made from recycled materials.
To grow our circular economy, we must buy Australian Made and Recycled.
SIMPLY CUPS
Australia's leading cup recycling program
EVENT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Leader in sustainable event waste management.
UPCYCLING
Transforming waste into resources.
ORGANICS
Food waste to compost in 24 hours.
facebook.com/simplycupsaus
facebook.com/closedlooprecycling
linkedin.com/company/closed-loop---environmental-solutions
instagram.com/closed_loop
FOLLOW US
Our team is regularly publishing updates on our social channels.
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Follow us for updates, and SHARE your stories or photos of your collection points or upcycled products with out team.
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We love showcasing your involvement in the program.
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simplycups.com.au
closedloop.com.au